The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,[6] commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are

a large and agriculturally important family of flowering plants. It includes trees, shrubs, and
perennial or annual herbaceous plants, which are easily recognized by their fruit (legume) and
their compound, stipulate leaves. Many legumes have characteristic flowers and fruits. The
family is widely distributed, and is the third-largest land plant family in number of species,
behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with about 765 genera and nearly 20,000 known
species[7].[8][9][1]
The five largest genera of the family are Astragalus (over 3,000 species), Acacia (over 1,000
species), Indigofera (around 700 species), Crotalaria (around 700 species), and Mimosa
(around 400 species), which constitute about a quarter of all legume species. The ca. 19,000
known legume species amount to about 7% of flowering plant species.[9][10] Fabaceae is the
most common family found in tropical rainforests and dry forests of the Americas and Africa.
[11]

Recent molecular and morphological evidence supports the fact that the Fabaceae is a single
monophyletic family.[12] This conclusion has been supported not only by the degree of
interrelation shown by different groups within the family compared with that found among the
Leguminosae and their closest relations, but also by all the recent phylogenetic studies based
on DNA sequences.[13][14][15] These studies confirm that the Fabaceae are a monophyletic
group that is closely related to the families Polygalaceae, Surianaceae and Quillajaceae and
that they belong to the order Fabales.[16]
Along with the cereals, some fruits and tropical roots, a number of Leguminosae have been a
staple human food for millennia and their use is closely related to human evolution.[17]
The family Fabaceae includes a number of plants that are common in agriculture, including
Glycine max (soybean), Phaseolus (beans), Pisum sativum (pea), Cicer arietinum (chickpeas),
Medicago sativa (alfalfa), Arachis hypogaea (peanut), Ceratonia siliqua (carob), and
Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice). A number of species are also weedy pests in different parts of
the world, including: Cytisus scoparius (broom), Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust), Ulex
europaeus (gorse), Pueraria montana (kudzu), and a number of Lupinus species.

Contents
 1 Etymology
 2 Description
o 2.1 Growth habit

o 2.2 Leaves

o 2.3 Roots

o 2.4 Flowers

o 2.5 Fruit

o 2.6 Physiology and biochemistry

 3 Evolution, phylogeny and taxonomy

o 3.2 Phylogeny and taxonomy

 3.2.1 Phylogeny
 3.2.2 Taxonomy
 4 Ecology
o 4.1 Distribution and habitat

o 4.2 Biological nitrogen fixation

o 4.3 Chemical ecology

 5 Economic and cultural importance

o 5.2 Industrial uses

 5.2.1 Natural gums

o 5.4 Ornamentals

 6 Emblematic Fabaceae
 7 Image gallery
 8 References
 9 External links

Etymology
The name 'Fabaceae' comes from the defunct genus Faba, now included in Vicia. The term
"faba" comes from Latin, and appears to simply mean "bean". Leguminosae is an older name
still considered valid,[6] and refers to the fruit of these plants, which are called legumes.

Description
The fruit of Gymnocladus dioicus
Fabaceae range in habit from giant trees (like Koompassia excelsa) to small annual herbs,
with the majority being herbaceous perennials. Plants have indeterminate inflorescences,
which are sometimes reduced to a single flower. The flowers have a short hypanthium and a
single carpel with a short gynophore, and after fertilization produce fruits that are legumes.

Growth habit
The Fabaceae have a wide variety of growth forms, including trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants,
and even vines or lianas. The herbaceous plants can be annuals, biennials, or perennials,
without basal or terminal leaf aggregations. Many Legumes have tendrils. They are upright
plants, epiphytes, or vines. The latter support themselves by means of shoots that twist around
a support or through cauline or foliar tendrils. Plants can be heliophytes, mesophytes, or
xerophytes.[3][9]

Leaves
The leaves are usually alternate and compound. Most often they are even- or odd-pinnately
compound (e.g. Caragana and Robinia respectively), often trifoliate (e.g. Trifolium,
Medicago) and rarely palmately compound (e.g. Lupinus), in the Mimosoideae and the
Caesalpinioideae commonly bipinnate (e.g. Acacia, Mimosa). They always have stipules,
which can be leaf-like (e.g. Pisum), thorn-like (e.g. Robinia) or be rather inconspicuous. Leaf
margins are entire or, occasionally, serrate. Both the leaves and the leaflets often have
wrinkled pulvini to permit nastic movements. In some species, leaflets have evolved into
tendrils (e.g. Vicia).[3][9][17]
Many species have leaves with structures that attract ants which protect the plant from
herbivore insects (a form of mutualism). Extrafloral nectaries are common among the
Mimosoideae and the Caesalpinioideae, and are also found in some Faboideae (e.g. Vicia
sativa). In some Acacia, the modified hollow stipules are inhabited by ants and are known as
domatia.

Roots
Main article: Root nodule
Many Fabaceae host bacteria in their roots within structures called root nodules. These
bacteria, known as rhizobia, have the ability to take nitrogen gas (N2) out of the air and
convert it to a form of nitrogen that is usable to the host plant ( NO3− or NH3 ). This process is
called nitrogen fixation. The legume, acting as a host, and rhizobia, acting as a provider of
usable nitrate, form a symbiotic relationship. Members of the Phaseoleae genus Apios form
tubers, which can be edible.[18]

Flowers
"Pea flower" redirects here. For the flour produced from peas, see pea flour.
See also: Papilionaceous flower

A flower of Wisteria sinensis, Faboideae. Two petals have been removed to show stamens and pistil
The flowers often have five generally fused sepals and five free petals. They are generally
hermaphroditic and have a short hypanthium, usually cup-shaped. There are normally ten
stamens and one elongated superior ovary, with a curved style. They are usually arranged in
indeterminate inflorescences. Fabaceae are typically entomophilous plants (i.e. they are
pollinated by insects), and the flowers are usually showy to attract pollinators.
In the Caesalpinioideae, the flowers are often zygomorphic, as in Cercis, or nearly
symmetrical with five equal petals, as in Bauhinia. The upper petal is the innermost one,
unlike in the Faboideae. Some species, like some in the genus Senna, have asymmetric
flowers, with one of the lower petals larger than the opposing one, and the style bent to one
side. The calyx, corolla, or stamens can be showy in this group.